The inevitable decision between following society and one’s own conscience is evident throughout many major works of literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays this conflict through his novel, The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne’s main character, Hester Prynne, exemplifies this conflict as a woman in her society. Through the attitudes and proceedings of Hester Prynne, Hawthorne shows his view on how one should not sacrifice dignity in order to appease the community they live in.

Naturally, Hester’s position as a woman degrades her in society. According to Puritan theology, women were considered weak because Eve, in the Garden of Eden, was the first to sin, rather than Adam. Also, they were not allowed to speak in churches and referred to as inferior creatures compared to men. For Hester to submit to the authority and power of the people, the society as a whole would feel a sense of power and control over the sinners of their community. “ The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale” (Hawthorne 50) was how the author described her as. Also, Hester was distinguished as being,”...lady like,too,after the manner of the feminine gentility of those days; characterized by a certain state and dignity”(50). Hester refused to let her scarlet letter and humiliation from others diminish her dignity and pride. She is shown here with a sense of poise and composure. Hester has kept this poise and self control despite the society’s attempt to burn her with evil looks and stares. This makes an important point in the novel because women were supposed to be submissive and Hester seems to not even care what others think of her. Hester refused to let the Puritan’s pressure of surrendering to the judgment of their society ruin her self respect and dignity as a woman.

Hester knows that she would have to change her whole entire life to be what her own society wants her to be, a symbol of shame and guilt. Hester decides not to...

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... The Magnificent Hester Prynne
Female inferiority is prevalent in Puritan society. However, in The ScarletLetter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne exemplifies the ethics, independence, and beauty that defy typical feminine standards in the 17th century. Thus, Hester becomes a feminist champion in the novel through her exceptional characteristics and her support for Arthur Dimmesdale.
To begin, Hester Prynne’s good looks, talent, and untainted principles separate her from ordinary Puritans and elevates her status in the narrative. First and foremost, her beauty separates her from the classic Puritan woman. She has “dark and abundant hair” that is “so glossy that it [throws] off the sunshine with a gleam” and “a face” that is “beautiful from regularity of feature” and “a ScarletLetter” that is “fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (Hawthorne 7). In Puritan society, women are taught to be submissive and to be obedient to all of her community’s ideals. Women in Puritan households withold their beauty and cover as much of themselves as possible, including their hair. Moreover, they often dress in drab colors of brown, black, and grey. Believing that ostentatious looks and dress can lead to sin and temptation, the New Englanders avoid these tendencies. But Hester’s tremendous...

...Essay #3
It is extremely easy for a society to alienate an individual based on assumptions or moral values. A good example of alienation in literature would be Hester Prynne’s role in The ScarletLetter. Because Hester Prynne has a child out of wedlock she is looked down upon by society and labeled with a scarlet let “A” for adultery/adulteress. This alienation highlights the values of society in the time period of the story based on women and pregnancies. Hester’s suffering reveals societies true feelings and assumptions based on her actions as a woman.
As a woman in her time period, Hester does not fit the role of the ideal innocent woman which society expects of her. However, instead Hester goes against society’s views on premarital sex and pregnancy as she gets pregnant by the reverend with her daughter Pearl without being married. These actions, as they are frowned upon by society in the Puritan times, bring forth the assumptions by individuals and society as a whole that Hester is a whore and sleeps around with men. However, as most assumptions are false accusations, society is nonetheless strongly persuaded and moved by them. And it is these assumptions and false accusations that society has placed on Hester which cause her suffering of punishment and alienation amidst society.
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...Hester Prynne and the Aftermath of her Eternal Symbol
How would you feel if you were rejected by a whole city, and nobody wanted you? Well although it might be counterintuitive in his novel The ScarletLetter Nathaniel Hawthorne is stating that sins can help us change for the better only if they are unveiled to the world. This story takes place in the late 1600’s, and is about Hester Prynne’s pains and sorrows after committing adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne has a daughter, Pearl, and her legitimate husband is Roger Chillingworth, a man who dedicates his time throughout the story to torment Dimmesdale.
Early on in the story we are introduced to Dimmesdale, and we find out that he is Pearl’s father. Soon enough the curious townspeople are asking Hester to reveal the identity of her lover, but she refuses to do so, and this is when Dimmesdale says:
Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life. (129)
After Dimmesdale says this to Hester one can notice that he is a coward and that the guilt is already eating him up. Why must Hester be the one to tell his sin to the public? He should set things right and publicly announce his...

...sun. But alas, there on her bosom the scarletletter lay, reminding me of our adulterous affair. Oh how it pained me to stand there with her! My legs trembled weakly and I felt my breath quicken – if only she would look at my way! I had desired with all my heart to throw myself betwixt her and the crowd of people standing before us, and declare my part in the heinous crime.
Being distraught with cowardice and shame, I could not muster the courage needed to free myself from my agony – thus, the burden of my crime shall eternally fester in the deepest reaches of my heart – and remain there for as long as the scarletletter continues to exist.
There is perhaps no man on earth as unholy and deserving of punishment as I am. Reverend, Father, pastor; all these names I detest with a vengeance. I am not apt to fulfill the role of a clergyman when I myself have committed offences against the church. My heart desires to expose me to the public for the fraud that I am, yet, my mouth won’t allow for it. The earthly punishments that befall Hester Prynne are nothing compared to mine, which are dealt by the Heavens to my very soul. I would rather be flogged a thousand times with the whip than to endure the heart break and sufferance that inevitably lies ahead.
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July 5, 1645
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...A CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER READING GUIDE FOR THE SCARLETLETTER
A 1636 Plymouth Colony law required anyone convicted of adultery to "wear two Capital letters viz AD cut out in cloth and sowed on theire uppermost Garments on their arme or backe; and if att any time they shallbee taken without the said letters whiles they are in the Govrment soewarn to bee forthwith taken and publickly whipt."[1] Other Massachusetts colonies had their own versions of this law. In fact, "The Capitall Lawes of New-England, as they stand now in force in the Common-wealth, by the Court, in the years 1641, 1642, established within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts," proclaim that "if any person committeth adultery with a married or espoused wife, the Adulterer, and the Adulteresse, shall surely be put to death."
Chapter 1—The Prison Door
Paragraph two explains the typical allotment of land in a Puritan town. What three establishments are early accounted for on Isaac Johnson's lot? What does this information tell us about Puritan values?
How does Hawthorne describe the prison? Identify a significant metaphor in the second paragraph.
A pathetic fallacy is a literary device in which Nature appears to understand human feeling and respond accordingly. An example is believing that the sun is shining because you are happy, or that a day is dark and rainy because you are feeling depressed. Hawthorne employs a significant...

...Symbols in The ScarletLetter
Symbolism plays an important role in many novels. Held with the distinction of implying important themes, symbols add depth to a story. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The ScarletLetter takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1640’s. Embellished with symbols and hidden themes, the novel tells “a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 46). In addition to human flaw and sadness, the novel reveals inhumane punishment and torture from the government and citizens of Puritan society. All of these subjects are given a deeper meaning through symbols. These symbols help manifest the undertones of man vs. nature. The rose bush, prison, scaffold and brook represent complex and essential symbols in The ScarletLetter.
Hawthorne first introduces two symbols, the rose bush and the prison, to the reader. According to Bloom, “the rosebush stands for the spontaneous and irrepressible life of nature and instinct, while the prison door stands for the harsh limitations that must be imposed on nature to maintain order in human societies” (13). Since the rose bush lies so close to the prison, one could interpret the co-existence as a sort of yin and yang. This also implies that where evil and corruption reside, purity and native morality will follow. Representing all things good-natured, the rose bush appears “to symbolize some sweet moral blossom . . . or...

...The ScarletLetterHester Prynne, the main character of the book "The ScarletLetter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, commits adultery, is considered a hussy, and has a child as the result of her sin. She cheats on her husband while he is absent from town and receives a harsh punishment for her behavior already. Hester is forced to wear a scarletletter “A” on her bosom for the rest of her life. It is now on debate on whether or not Pearl should be taken away from her mother’s guidance. This is due to the fact that she is a sinner and might not be a qualified mother for her child.It is true, that no matter what you did in the past, a child is a blessing and parents change due to the love they have for their children. Therefore, Hester Prynne is a good mother and she has been taking actions to prove so.
How can Hester Prynne form a good mother figure if she is a bad example herself? Indeed, she commits adultery, and therefore is a sinner in the eyes of the townspeople. However, that has nothing to do with the type of mother she is. During the three months she is in prison, there was not a single time in which Hester separates from her little Pearl. Hester always keeps her child by her side to protect her, and to not let the evil from prison life affect her. Even when she is sent to public...

...The ScarletLetter
Alienation can be linked to self-discovery. The alienated can make a choice: to endure or to protest. Explain the choices made by Hester Prynne and how they are typical or atypical based on the societal values during this time period (1640s).
Hester Prynne has made many tough decisions throughout the novel. Most, if not all, of her choices were atypical for women during this time period. One of Hester’s most prominent decisions was to stay in town when she knows that her and her child, Pearl, will be shunned. Townspeople were shocked at her decision to continue living in the village in which the crime was committed. The majority of women back then would have probably hid themselves in shame and ran away to another village. Hester, on the other hand, wanted to stay in the town which she called home. Hester also feels that she is attached to Pearl’s father, Reverend Dimmesdale, who continues to live in Boston. Another reason she chooses to stay is because she feels that the people of the town want her to leave their village. She wants to show them that they cannot and will not rule the course of her life and stays. Hester does not want to live a life of lies so she figures that she might as well deal with the consequences. Most women in that time period would have lived the rest of their lives in solitude and shame; leading a miserable life....